1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vanity case for use with make-up or the like. More particularly, this invention relates to an improvement of a vanity case of a type in which a receptacle member and a cover member are hinged together at the rear ends thereof and are arranged to be latched by snap engagement between a first latch tongue of the cover and a second latch tongue formed on an inner wall defining a recess which is formed in the front end of the receptacle to receive a push piece. The push piece is movable in the recess and is adapted to, upon rearward movement thereof, produce a force which urges the cover upwardly so as to release the engagement of the latch tongues.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A vanity case of the type set forth above is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,893 wherein the push piece is molded of relatively hard plastic material and includes an inner end portion and an enlarged outer end portion to form an inclined surface therebetween, the surface being inclined upwardly toward the outer end and abutting a lower end of a nose having the first latch tongue and extending from the lower surface of the cover when the latter is in a closed position with respect to the receptacle. Thus, pressing the push piece inwardly causes the nose to slide on the inclined surface, thereby urging the nose upwardly to open the cover.
In the above vanity case, however, the force acting on the nose has a direction perpendicular to the inclined surface and therefore includes a component of force in a horizontal direction, which component tends to urge the nose toward the inner wall of the recess where the second latch tongue is formed. It thus will be understood that a user would have to press the push piece with a relatively large force in order to open the cover since the component in the horizontal direction tends to strengthen the engagement between the first and second latch tongues. This is not desirable in view of the nature of the vanity case.
Japanese Utility Model KOKAI No. 61-154806 discloses another vanity case with a push piece which has a front wall and a tilt arm formed integrally with the front wall through a flexible section. The tilt arm extends upwardly and inwardly to abut at its inner end against the inner wall of the recess, with its upper end being adjacent the lower end of the nose. Upon inward movement of the push piece, the inner end of the arm slides on the inner wall of the recess to further tilt the arm, so that the upper end of the arm forces the nose in upward and forward directions to thereby open the cover. Vanity cases with push pieces having similar arms are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,679,576 and 4,683,899.
These push pieces with the arms may reduce the force required for releasing the engagement between the latch tongues, because the arm urges the cover not only in the upward direction but also in the forward direction in which the first latch tongue moves away from the second, latch tongue. After the release of engagement, the cover can be opened to any desired angle by a user's finger which is inserted into a space created between the cover and the receptacle. It is thus convenient that such a space be as large as possible. This space, i.e. a degree of initial opening of the cover, depends on the length of the arm. In the above vanity cases, however, to elongate the arm necessarily involves an increase of size of the push piece itself and of the recess, thus resulting in an increase of the size of the entire assembly. This is contrary to a recent development which requires that the vanity case be made thinner and smaller.